Biblical Bibliographies
Charles Conroy [www.cjconroy.net]



Palestinian Archaeology in its Ancient Near Eastern Context
A General Bibliography



[see also:  Ancient Near East;  Israel's Origins: archaeological studies;  Jerusalem]



The bibliography is divided into five sections as follows:

I.    Reference works

Berlejung, A. (main editor) – P. M. M. Daviau – J. Kamlah – G. Lehmann (area editors), Encyclopedia of Material Culture in the Biblical World. A New "Biblisches Reallexikon" (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2022).

Bryce, T. (ed.), The Routledge Handbook of the Peoples and Places of Ancient Western Asia: The Near East from the Early Bronze Age to the Fall of the Persian Empire. In consultation with H. D. Baker, D. T. Potts, J. N. Tubb, J. M. Webb, and P. Zimansky (London & New York: Routledge, 2009).

Master, D. M. (editor-in-chief), The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Bible and Archaeology. 2 vol. Editorial board members: J. K. Zangenberg, A. Faust, B. Alpert Nakhai, and L. M. White (Oxford & New York: Oxford University Press, 2013).

Meyers, E. M. (editor-in-chief), The Oxford Encyclopedia of Archaeology in the Near East. 5 vol. Prepared under the auspices of the American Schools of Oriental Research (New York & Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997).

Negev, A. – Sh. Gibson, Archaeological Encyclopedia of the Holy Land. Second ed., revised by Sh. Gibson (New York: Continuum, 2001) [first ed. 1972].

Potts, D. T. (ed.), A Companion to the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East. 2 vol. (Blackwell Companions to the Ancient World. Literature and Culture; Chichester, UK & Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2012).

Price, R. – H. W. House, Zondervan Handbook of Biblical Archaeology (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2017).

Steiner, M. L. – A. E. Killebrew (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of the Levant, c. 8000-332 bce (Oxford Handbooks; Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014).

Stern, E. (ed.), The New Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land. 4 vol. (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1992; Jerusalem: The Israel Exploration Society & Carta, 1993). Supplemental volume: E. Stern – H. Geva – A. Paris (eds.), The New Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land. Supplementary Volume 5 (Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society; Washington, DC: Biblical Archaeology Society, 2008).

II.    Synthetic presentations

Aharoni, Y., The Archaeology of the Land of Israel: from the Prehistoric Beginnings to the End of the First Temple Period. Edited by M. Aharoni (London: SCM; Philadelphia: Fortress, 1982) [from the Hebrew of 1978].

Arata Mantovani, P., Introduzione all'archeologia palestinese. Dalla prima età del Ferro alla conquista di Alessandro Magno (1200 a.C.-332 a.C.) (Leggere oggi la Bibbia, 3.13; Brescia: Queriniana, 1992).

Ben-Tor, A. (ed.), The Archaeology of Ancient Israel (New Haven / London: Yale University Press, 1992) [Hebrew original 1992]; = La Arqueología del Antiguo Israel. (Madrid: Ediciones Cristiandad, 2004) [see however a very severe review of the quality of the Spanish translation by M. T. Rubiato, "Crítica bibliográfica: Arqueología en tierras de la Bíblia", Sefarad 65 (2005) 171-192].

Cline, E. H., Biblical Archaeology: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions, 217; New York & Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009). German editions: Biblische Archäologie: eine kleine Einführung (Reclams Universal-Bibliothek, 18857 – Reclam Sachbuch; Stuttgart: Reclam, 2012); Biblische Archäologie. Von Genezareth bis Qumran. Erweiterte und bebilderte Ausgabe (Darmstadt: Philipp von Zabern, 2016).

Dever, W. G., Beyond the Texts: An Archaeological Portrait of Ancient Israel and Judah (Atlanta, GA: SBL Press, 2017).

Ebeling, J. – J. E. Wright – M. Elliott – P. V. M. Flesher (eds.), The Old Testament in Archaeology and History (Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2017).

Finkelstein, I. – N. A. Silberman, The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Its Sacred Texts (New York: The Free Press, 2001); = Le tracce di Mosè. La Bibbia tra storia e mito ( Saggi [Carocci], 14; Roma: Carocci, 2002); = La Bible dévoilée: les nouvelles révélations de l'archéologie (Paris: Bayard, 2002); = Keine Posaunen vor Jericho. Die archäologische Wahrheit über die Bibel (München: C. H. Beck, 2002, 22003); = La Biblia desenterrada. Una nueva visión arqueológica del antiguo Israel y de los orígenes de sus textos sagrados (Historia antigua; Madrid: Siglo XXI de España Editores, 2003); = A Bíblia Não Tinha Razão (São Paulo, A Girafa, 2003).

Frendo, A. J., Approaching Biblical Archaeology (London & New York: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2022).

Fritz, V., Einführung in die biblische Archäologie (Einführungen; Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1985); = Introduzione all'archeologia biblica (Brescia: Paideia, 1991); = An Introduction to Biblical Archaeology. Revised edition (JSOTSup 172; Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1994).

Gitin, S. (ed.), The Ancient Pottery of Israel and Its Neighbors from the Iron Age Through the Hellenistic Period (Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society – W. F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research – Israel Antiquities Authority – American Schools of Oriental Research, 2015).

González Echegaray, J., El Creciente Fértil y la Biblia (Estella [Navarra]: Verbo Divino, 1991); = O Crescente Fértil e a Bíblia (Petrópolis: Vozes, 1995).

Kenyon, K. M., Archaeology in the Holy Land. Fourth ed. (London: Benn; New York: Norton, 1979) [first ed. 1960].

Kuhnen, H.-P., Palästina in Griechisch-Römischer Zeit (Handbuch der Archäologie, Vorderasien II. Bd. 2; München: Beck, 1990).

Magness, J., The Archaeology of the Holy Land: From the Destruction of Solomon's Temple to the Muslim Conquest (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012).

Mazar, A., Archaeology of the Land of the Bible. [Volume I]: 10,000 – 586 B.C.E. (ABRL; New York: Doubleday, 1990); = Arqueologia na terra da Bíblia – 10.000 – 586 a.C. (São Paulo: Paulinas, 2003).

Meyers, E. M. – M. A. Chancey, Archaeology of the Land of the Bible. Volume III: Alexander to Constantine (AYBRL; New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2012).

Stern, E., Archaeology of the Land of the Bible. Volume II: The Assyrian, Babylonian, and Persian Periods (732-332 B.C.E.) (ABRL; New York: Doubleday, 2001).

Vieweger, D., Archäologie der Biblischen Welt (Gütersloh: Gütersloher Verlagshaus, 2012) [expanded version of a work published under different titles in 2003 and 2004, with second ed. in 2006].

Weippert, H., Palästina in vorhellenistischer Zeit. Mit einem Beitrag von Leo Mildenberg (Handbuch der Archäologie, Vorderasien II. Bd. 1; München: Beck, 1988).

III.    Other significant general studies

1.   Monographs and multi-author volumes

Bartlett, J. R. (ed.), Archaeology and Biblical Interpretation (London / New York: Routledge, 1997).

Benjamin, D. C., Stones and Stories: An Introduction to Archaeology and the Bible (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress, 2010).

Dever, W. G., What Did the Biblical Writers Know and When Did They Know It? What Archaeology Can Tell Us About the Reality of Ancient Israel (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2001).

Dever, W. G., The Lives of Ordinary People in Ancient Israel: Where Archaeology and the Bible Intersect (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2012).

Dever, W. G., Has Archaeology Buried the Bible? (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2020).

Farber, Z. I. – J. L. Wright (eds.), Archaeology and History of Eighth-Century Judah (ANEM 23; Atlanta, GA: SBL Press, 2018). The volume can be downloaded here.

Faust, A., Judah in the Neo-Babylonian Period: The Archaeology of Desolation (Archaeology and Biblical Studies, 18; Atlanta, GA: Society of Biblical Literature, 2012).

Faust, A., The Archaeology of Israelite Society in Iron Age II (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2012). [the book is a partially updated version of the Hebrew original (2005)]

Finkelstein, I., The Archaeology of the Israelite Settlement (Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society, 1988). [revised and updated version of the Hebrew original 1986]

Frendo, A. J., Pre-Exilic Israel, the Hebrew Bible, and Archaeology: Integrating Text and Artefact (LHB/OTS 549; New York – London: T & T Clark, 2011).

Grabbe, L. L. (ed.), Israel in Transition: From Late Bronze II to Iron IIa (c. 1250-850 B.C.E.): Volume 1. The Archaeology (LHB/OTS 491; London & New York: T & T Clark, 2008).

Greenberg, R., The Archaeology of the Bronze Age Levant: From Urban Origins to the Demise of City-States, 3700-1000 BCE (Cambridge World Archaeology; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2019).

Herzog, Z., Archaeology of the City: Urban Planning in Ancient Israel and its Social Implications (Monograph Series of the Institute of Archaeology Tel Aviv University, 13; Tel Aviv: Emery and Claire Yass Archaeology Press, 1997).

Hoffmeier, J. K., The Archaeology of the Bible (Oxford: Lion, 2008); = L'archeologia della Bibbia (Cinisello Balsamo [MI]: San Paolo, 2009).

Kenyon, K. M. – P. R. S. Moorey, The Bible and Recent Archaeology. Revised edition by P. R. S. Moorey (London: British Museum Publications, 1987) [first ed. by Kenyon alone: 1978]

Laughlin, J. C. H., Archaeology and the Bible (Approaching the Ancient World; London: Routledge, 1999).

Laughlin, J. C. H., Fifty Major Cities of the Bible: From Dan to Beersheba (Routledge Key Guides; London: Routledge, 2006).

Levy, T. E. (ed.), The Archaeology of Society in the Holy Land (London: Leicester University Press, 1995, pbk 1998).

Levy, T. E. (ed.), Historical Biblical Archaeology and the Future: The New Pragmatism (London: Equinox, 2010).

MacDonald, B., 'East of the Jordan': Territories and Sites of the Hebrew Scriptures (ASOR Books, 6. Boston, MA: American Schools of Oriental Research, 2000).

MacDonald, B. – R. Adams – P. A. Bienkowski (eds.), The Archaeology of Jordan (Levantine Archaeology, 1; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 2001).

Maeir, A. M. – I. Shai – C. McKinny (eds.), The Late Bronze and Early Iron Ages of Southern Canaan (Archaeology of the Biblical Worlds, 2; Berlin: De Gruyter, 2019).

Moorey, P. R. S., A Century of Biblical Archaeology (London: Lutterworth; Louisville, KY: Westminster / John Knox, 1991); = Un secolo di archeologia biblica (Saggi di archeologia, 4; Milano: Electa, 1998).

Murphy-O'Connor, J., The Holy Land. An Oxford Archaeological Guide. 5th edition, revised and enlarged (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008) [first ed. 1980].

Nadali, D. – F. Pinnock, Archeologia della Siria antica (Manuali universitari, 221; Roma: Carocci, 2021).

Pedersén, O., Babylon – The Great City (Münster: Zaphon, 2021).

Silberman, N. A. – D. B. Small (eds.), The Archaeology of Israel: Constructing the Past, Interpreting the Present (JSOTSup 237; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1997).

Steiner, M. L., Op zoek naar... de gecompliceerde relatie tussen archeologie en de Bijbel (Rotterdam: Mijnbestseller Nederland, 2015); = Inhabiting the Promised Land: Exploring the Complex Relationship between Archaeology and Ancient Israel as Depicted in the Bible (Oxford: Oxbow Books, 2019).

Wagemakers, B. (ed.), Archaeology in the Land of 'Tells and Ruins': A History of Excavations in the Holy Land Inspired by the Photographs and Accounts of Leo Boer (Oxford: Oxbow Books, 2014).

Wilkinson, T. J., Archaeological Landscapes of the Near East (Tucson, AZ: The University of Arizona Press, 2003).

Yasur-Landau, A. – E. H. Cline – Y. M. Rowan (eds.), The Social Archaeology of the Levant: From Prehistory to the Present (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2019).

Zwickel, W., Settlement History around the Sea of Galilee from the Neolithic to the Persian Period (ÄAT 86; Münster: Ugarit-Verlag, 2017).

2.   Articles and chapters

Aznar Sánchez, C., "La arqueología del Levante meridional a comienzos del siglo XXI: de 2002 a 2010 (I-II)", EstBib 68 (2010) 219-258; 71 (2013) 77-124.

Aznar Sánchez, C., "Arqueología y Biblia en el período monárquico temprano", EstBib 78 (2020) 313-351.

Bloch-Smith, E., "Archaeology: What It Can Teach Us", in S. Niditch (ed.), The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Ancient Israel (Wiley Blackwell Companions to Religion; Malden, MA: Wiley Blackwell, 2016) 13-27.

Conrad, D., "Biblische Archäologie heute", VF 40/1 (1995) 51-74.

Conrad, D., "Hobby oder Wissenschaft? Biblische Archäologie und ihre Stellung im Kanon der theologischen Fächer", ZDPV 115 (1999) 1-11.

Dever, W. G., "Archaeology, Syro-Palestinian and Biblical", ABD I (1992) 354-367.

Dever, W. G., "Biblical Archaeology: Death and Rebirth", in A. Biran – J. Aviram (eds.), Biblical Archaeology Today, 1990: Proceedings of the Second International Congress on Biblical Archaeology (Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society, The Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, 1993) 706-722.

Dever, W. G., "Archaeology, Texts, and History-Writing: Toward an Epistemology", in L. M. Hopfe (ed.), Uncovering Ancient Stones. Essays in Memory of H. Neil Richardson (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 1994) 105-117.

Dever, W. G., "Philology, Theology, and Archaeology: What Kind of History of Israel Do We Want, and What is Possible?", in N. A. Silberman – D. B. Small (eds.), The Archaeology of Israel. Constructing the Past, Interpreting the Present (JSOTSup 237; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press,1997) 290-310.

Dever, W. G., "Biblical and Syro-Palestinian Archaeology: A State-of-the-Art Assessment at the Turn of the Millennium", CR:BS 8 (2000) 91-116: with "Corrigenda" by Philip R. Davies (117-123), and a reply "Marginalia" by Dever (124-133).

Dever, W. G., "Syro-Palestinian and Biblical Archaeology – into the Next Millennium", in W. G. Dever – S. Gitin (eds.), Symbiosis, Symbolism, and the Power of the Past. Canaan, Ancient Israel, and Their Neighbors from the Late Bronze Age Through Roman Palaestina. Proceedings of the Centennial Symposium W. F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research and American Schools of Oriental Research, Jerusalem, May 29-31, 2000 (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2003) 513-527.

Dever, W. G., "A Critique of Biblical Archaeology: History and Interpretation", in J. Ebeling – J. E. Wright – M. Elliott – P. V. M. Flesher (eds.), The Old Testament in Archaeology and History (Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2017) 141-157.

Dever, W. G., "From the Bible to the Levant and Beyond", NEA 80 (2017) 148-153.

Drinkard, J. F., "The Interface of Archaeology and Biblical Studies: Does Archaeology Really Matter Anyway?", RevExp 106 (2009) 305-311.

Finkelstein, I., "Archaeology and Text in the Third Millennium: A View from the Center", in A. Lemaire (ed.), Congress Volume Basel 2001 (VTSup 92; Leiden: Brill, 2002) 323-342.

Garfinkel, Y., "Biblical Archaeology Today: 2010", in K. Finsterbusch – A. Lange (eds.), What is Bible? (CBET 67; Leuven: Peeters, 2012) 15-23.

Garfinkel, Y., "Lachish in the Context of Ancient Near Eastern Studies", in C. Rollston – S. Garfein – N. H. Walls (eds.), Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Studies in Honor of P. Kyle McCarter Jr. (ANEM 27; Atlanta, GA: SBL Press, 2022) 505-521.

Gignac, A., "Bible et archéologie (syro-palestinienne): l'une a-t-elle encore besoin de l'autre?", Théologiques 21/1 (2013) 7-21.

Grabbe, L. L., "'Biblical' Archaeology or 'Biblical' History?", in K. Finsterbusch – A. Lange (eds.), What is Bible? (CBET 67; Leuven: Peeters, 2012) 25-32.

Joffe, A. H. – A. Mazar – D. F. Graf, "Palestine", OEANE 4 (1997) 212-228. Details: A. H. Joffe, "Palestine in the Bronze Age": 212-217; A. Mazar, "Palestine in the Iron Age": 217-222; D. F. Graf, "Palestine in the Persian through Roman Periods": 222-228.

Kletter, R., "In Search of the 'Israeli Method of Excavation'", PEQ 147 (2015) 146-159.

Kletter, R., "Water from a Rock: Archaeology, Ideology, and the Bible", SJOT 30 (2016) 161-184.

Maeir, A. M., "Archeology and the Hebrew Bible", in A. Berlin – M. Z. Brettler (eds.), The Jewish Study Bible, Jewish Publication Society TANAKH Translation. Second edition (Oxford & New York: Oxford University Press, 2014) 2124-2136.

Mazar, A., "From 1200 to 850 B.C.E.: Remarks on Some Selected Archaeological Issues", in L. Grabbe (ed.), Israel in Transition: From Late Bronze II to Iron IIa (c. 1250-850 B.C.E.). Volume 1: The Archaeology (LHB/OTS 491; London & New York: T & T Clark, 2008) 86-120.

Mazar, A., "Archaeology and the Bible: Reflections on Historical Memory in the Deuteronomistic History", in C. M. Maier (ed.), Congress Volume Munich 2013 (VTSup 163; Leiden: Brill, 2014) 347-369.

Nakhai, B. A., "Where to Worship? Religion in Iron II Israel and Judah", in N. Laneri (ed.), Defining the Sacred: Approaches to the Archaeology of Religion in the Near East (Oxford: Oxbow, 2015) 90-101.

North, R. – P. J. King, "Biblical Archaeology", in R. E. Brown – J. A. Fitzmyer – R. E. Murphy (eds.), The New Jerome Biblical Commentary (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1990) §74 [pp. 1196-1218]; = "Archeologia biblica", Nuovo Grande Commentario Biblico (Brescia: Queriniana, 1997) 1574-1604.

Sapir, Y. – S. Libi, "Survey of Scientific Methods in Archaeology", in Z. I. Farber – J. L. Wright (eds.), Archaeology and History of Eighth-Century Judah (ANEM 23; Atlanta, GA: SBL Press, 2018) 529-553. The volume can be downloaded here.

Savage, S. H. – T. E. Levy, "DAAHL – The Digital Archaeological Atlas of the Holy Land: A Model for Mediterranean and World Archaeology", NEA 77 (2014) 243-247.

Steiner, M. L., "From Jerusalem with Love", in I. Hjelm – T. L. Thompson (eds.), History, Archaeology and The Bible Forty Years After "Historicity" (Copenhagen International Seminar – Changing Perspectives, 6; London & New York: Routledge, 2016) 71-84.

Strange, J., "Biblical Archaeology, a Plea for its Continuation", SJOT 27 (2013) 64-75.

Vaux, R. de, "On Right and Wrong Uses of Archaeology", in J. Sanders (ed.), Near Eastern Archaeology in the Twentieth Century: Essays in Honor of Nelson Glueck (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1970) 64-80.

Wright, G. E., "What Archaeology Can and Cannot Do", BA 34 (1971) 70-75.

Zwickel, W., "Biblische Archäologie", TRu 66 (2001) 288-309

Zwickel, W., "Biblische Archäologie (Teil I)", TRu 79 (2014) 257-293.

Zwickel, W., "Biblische Archäologie (Teil II)", TRu 79 (2014) 393-417.

IV.    Specialized journals

Biblical Archaeologist: from 1998 onwards its title was changed to Near East Archaeology.

Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research.

Israel Exploration Journal: N.B. the section "Notes and News" (updating on recent excavation campaigns and discoveries).

Journal of Egyptian Archaeology.

Near East Archaeology (cf. Biblical Archaeologist above).

קדמוניות (Qadmoniot: Journal for the Antiquities of Eretz-Israel and Bible Lands) (useful for current archaeological news too).

Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins.

V.    Links to other sites

Museums of major importance for Ancient Near Eastern studies

Berlin, Ägyptisches Museum [German and English pages]

Berlin, Vorderasiatisches Museum [German and English pages]

Cairo, Egyptian Museum  [unofficial site; the Museum's official website is under construction at present (2022-03-21)]

Cairo, Egyptian Museum [another unofficial site]

Jerusalem, Israel Museum (Archaeology)

Jerusalem, Bible Lands Museum (Archaeology)

London, British Museum

Paris, musée du Louvre

Torino [Turin], Museo Egizio

Sample excavations

Hazor [Hebrew University, Jerusalem]

Megiddo [Tel-Aviv University]

Other sites of interest

Archaeology and History of Israel: Dinur Center [over 4500 classified links]

Biblical Archaeology [USA site: popular level]

Hebrew University Institute of Archaeology

Israel Antiquities Authority: National Treasures [new artifacts are added on a regular basis]

Israel: Current Archaeological News [Ministry of Foreign Affairs information site]

Jerusalem (historical and contemporary documentation)